Squall's Girl Squad
by SilentStarlightSky
Summary: One-shot made for The Successor Challenge of August 2015. Even after Ultimecia's defeat, staying battle ready is serious business, at least Squall thinks so. Rinoa and Selphie might disagree.


(This was made for The Successor Challenge of August 2015.)

Squall's Girl Squad

It was a beautiful sunny day, but it was extremely hot outside. There wasn't a cloud in the sky to give any momentary shade to the figures standing in the grassy field below. Heat rose off the ground in waves, and the abundant sunshine was beating down on Rinoa and Selphie as they stood next to each other chatting. They were hoping for a breeze to come by and stir up the heavy air and give them some relief, but it hadn't yet come.

"So Rinoa, do you want to go shopping with me next Friday afternoon?" Selphie asked while shading her eyes with her hand.

"Hmmm... I don't know Selphie, I might be doing something with Squall then. I'm not sure," Rinoa replied.

"If you're not sure, why don't you just ask him?"

Rinoa looked up at Squall before calling out to him. She had to raise her voice because he was standing 15 feet away and he looked pretty busy.

"Hey Squall, do we have anything planned for next Friday afternoon?!" Rinoa yelled.

Instead of a reply, all they heard was a grunt and Squall's heavy breathing.

"Was that a yes or a no?" Selphie asked with her head tilted to the side. Her perky hairstyle bounced over her bare shoulders.

"You know, I'm not really sure. How about we just pretend that I'm free? A shopping trip sounds like so much fun!" Rinoa responded with a smile.

"Yea, it's a date!" Selphie said in agreement while pumping her fist in the air.

Rinoa tossed her dark hair over her shoulder and squinted into the bright light, angling her body away from Selphie before aiming her Shooting Star and firing it at the pack of vicious Grendels. Since the day was so sunny, clear, and extremely hot, she was glad that her weapon didn't require a lot of movement on her part.

"The Island Closest to Hell sure is a great place to keep our skills honed," Selphie said after twirling her nunchaku at the closest monster. She was so small and fit that it nearly looked like she was dancing. Effortless, but forceful. A loud THUNK was heard as her weapon hit the dragon's leathery side.

"Yea, Squall thought so," Rinoa responded while stretching her arms over her head. "He thinks it's important for us to keep our battle abilities in top form even though the war is over."

"Tee-hee, I get enough battle experience from my usual SeeD missions," Selphie laughed. She hopped from foot to foot while straightening out her short yellow dress. Then she waited for an opening to attack another Grendel.

"Okay, well I guess Squall just wants to make sure that I'm keeping in good shape... just in case," Rinoa said with a shrug while poking the toe of her heavy boot into the hard ground.

"Always be prepared!" Selphie chirped while taking up a defensive stance with her giant Strange Vision nunchaku. "Practice!"

"He's probably just worrying for nothing. I'm fine. I don't need to practice THAT much to keep myself battle ready," Rinoa said while lightly waving her hand in the air dismissively.

"Hey Rinoa, it's your turn again," Selphie said as a friendly reminder.

"Oh yea, thanks Selphie."

Rinoa put her fingers in her mouth and whistled. Angelo ran up to her.

"Hey Angelo, go get them for me! Good dog!"

The dog raced towards the monsters at Rinoa's command. Angelo was a good fighter, and was able to help Squall with the monsters. Rinoa never needed to worry about those two much. They were able to handle themselves very well, even against the formidable creatures on this island. And these Grendels were particularly strong today. It was if they'd gained an equal amount of strength since the last time they'd visited the Island Closest to Hell. This place was always a challenge, and the perfect spot for building their muscles and abilities. Rinoa was just glad she was there with Squall, Selphie, and Angelo because the battle was getting pretty rough.

"Wow, look at him," Selphie said while watching Squall get knocked down. "Ouchie-ouch-OUCH!" She covered her mouth with her hand.

The hit from the Grendel was so hard that Squall's body skidded across the dry grass and ripped up some of the turf. He was stunned for a moment before reacting, and then he pulled himself up onto one knee and channeled his remaining energy. Within a minute he'd gotten his breath back and began to unleash his impressive Renzokuken attack. Selphie and Rinoa held back while watching him repeatedly slice up the Grendels. It was pretty amazing. Good thing Squall was there. Selphie was a tough SeeD, but this wasn't a place you should practice at without at least one or two other people for backup.

Since Squall seemed like he was handling things pretty well, they returned to their conversation.

"So anyways, where would you want to go shopping?" Rinoa asked.

"Oh, I don't want to go far. Maybe we could just check out some stores in Balamb." Selphie paused. Squall got knocked down hard again. This time there was a disturbingly loud thud, and he had trouble getting back up onto his knees. "Wow, Squall sure is taking a beating. CURAGA!" Selphie yelled with her nunchaku held up in the air. A refreshing wave of magic flowed over Squall. "We could go to that little boutique with all the cute dresses. You can never have enough sundresses for the summertime!"

"And then we can go out and get some ice cream too!" Rinoa added.

"Sounds like a blast! How about we make it a day and go out to lunch first, then shopping, finished by dessert," Selphie said before swinging her nunchaku at a monster.

 _I don't know why Squall always makes this fighting seem so hard. All this training! It's what he thinks about constantly. I'm doing okay and I don't train nearly as much as he does,_ Rinoa thought to herself.

"That'd be great! Let's make sure to... ouch!" Rinoa was interrupted by Squall bumping backwards into her and Selphie.

Squall was barely able to catch his breath. Between gasps they could barely make out what he was trying to say. They tried to be patient and listen to him.

"Back... up... I need... you to back me up," he panted heavily. His head was lowered with his hair hanging in his eyes and his breathing was very labored. Sweat glistened off him, but not in a sexy way. It was more gross than anything.

"Squall, you're so sweaty! Maybe you should take off your leather jacket," Rinoa responded helpfully while trying not to touch him.

"..." Squall non-responded while looking up at Rinoa incredulously.

He sensed movement out of the corner of his eye and spotted a Grendel readying to attack them. The last remaining monster whipped its tail out and Squall dove in front of Rinoa to take the brunt of the impact. He wavered on the brink of consciousness for a moment before falling to the ground in a sweaty heap.

Selphie rushed in to fight the Grendel with a swing of her nunchaku while Rinoa turned towards Squall to help.

"Oh no, Squall fainted!" she cried.

She kneeled beside him and gripped the front of his leather jacket. His white undershirt was soaked in sweat and splattered with blood. She brushed some of his damp and bloody hair from his scarred forehead and began to fan his face while he laid senseless on the ground.

"He'll be fine. It's probably just heat exhaustion," Rinoa said to reassure herself. "Life!" she yelled while waving her arm in the air and a white light enveloped them.

Squall regained consciousness and got back up to continue the fight. This round was taking much longer than usual. Perhaps due to the fact that some of the other members in his team were getting distracted with talking and not helping as much as they should. Mostly Rinoa.

"A little help would be nice." Squall rasped while hoping to get Rinoa's attention. "You won't build your abilities if I'm the only person fighting here."

"I AM helping Squall! And here's some helpful advice. I think you should take off your leather jacket in this heat. You might faint again if you don't!" Rinoa said quickly.

"I fain... I mean... I was knocked unconscious because I was hit by a Grendel tail! Not because I was overheated Rinoa. "

"Well, I'm pretty sure heat exhaustion was just one of the MANY factors that contributed to your fainting spell."

"Fainting spell?"

 _What am I, somebody's delicate grandmother?_ Squall thought to himself. He steeled himself for the brief lecture he was about to give.

"Rinoa, I have a close-range weapon that repeatedly combusts with gunpowder. I have to keep my leather jacket and gloves on for protection from the sparks and heat it generates and the strikes I receive from enemies! I can't just take it off right now!"

"Woooo! Take it off! Take it off!" Selphie teased by taking a moment to mime removing her imaginary jacket while dancing in a sultry manner. After she had her moment of fun she lifted her nunchaku above her head. A blast of magic erupted and did serious damage to Grendel they were still fighting.

Squall looked across the field at Selphie who was dancing around with the white topped mountains in the background. He narrowed his eyes at her menacingly, not that she could tell from that distance. While he was busy looking at Selphie fighting, he felt a protective yellow shield of magic come into existence before his eyes.

"Sorry Squall, I got distracted. I guess I should have remembered to do this at the beginning of this fight," Rinoa said softly behind him.

 _Better late than never. No... actually strategically, late really didn't help at all,_ Squall thought.

He turned to look at Rinoa's slightly embarrassed face. Her big brown eyes were looking up at him sweetly and he quickly forgot his previous annoyance with her lack of seriousness in a battle situation. He stood with his head turned to the side and ran his fingers through his bloody hair while trying to catch his breath. A slight smile turned up the corner of his lips and a small amount of blood trickled down.

"It's fine Rinoa, don't worry about it," he reassured her with his bloody smile and what looked like a wink. Squall Leonhart didn't wink though, it was actually a result from his face beginning to bruise and swell.

"Booyaka!" Selphie yelled as she finished off the last monster. "Selphie Tilmitt 1, Grendel 0, and Squall Leonhart... um, 4 or 5 or something. That last round was pretty good. I wonder how many total monsters we got today."

"That's enough... fighting... for now. Let's get back to... Balamb... Gard..." Squall said before falling to his knees.

He blinked a few times before completely collapsing from fatigue. His heavy body slapped onto the hard and dry ground gracelessly. Dust and dirt stuck to the side of his sweaty face as he laid there immobilized.

"Wow, somebody's going to be sleeping well tonight!" Selphie said with her hands on her hips.

"Squall!" Rinoa yelled while rushing to his side. Now that the Grendels were taken care of, she pulled off his leather jacket for him to cool down. The jacket fell onto the ground next to him. She then pulled his arms over her shoulders to help him back to his feet. He stood up cautiously as Rinoa flowed curative magic through him. Luckily for him, Curagas had a refreshingly cool sensation.

"I'm... fine. Everything... is... fine..." he said in a small and soft voice.

Rinoa wrapped her arms around his chest and held him steady. She tried to not be bothered by the sweat and blood, but her face was pressed into his drenched shirt. She wished they were able to make a deodorant that was SeeD strength. There was going to be a lot of showering and laundry in their near future. Possibly some Dr. Kadowaki time too. Squall practically lived in the Infirmary.

Selphie reached out and picked up Squall's fallen jacket from the ground before helping Rinoa shoulder his weight. Then they walked back to where the Ragnarok was parked by carefully picking their way across the field that was littered with Grendel, Ruby Dragon, and Hexdragon carcasses. Rinoa was greatly relieved for Selphie's help, as supporting Squall was a difficult task.

"Don't worry about anything! I'll fly us home!" Selphie said cheerily while helping Rinoa drag a barely conscious Squall onto the airship.

His head bobbed up and down and his feet made metallic clanking noises as they entered the Ragnarok, and he resigned himself to the zippy ride he was about to endure. He'd be able to relax once his feet were back on solid ground at Balamb Garden, but not before. Time to grin and bear it, or at least grimace and bear it.

"Everybody... remember to... put on your seatbelts," he muttered with a weak raspy voice while trying to find a seat.

"Safety first! Right commander?!" Selphie said in what was meant to be soothing tone of agreement. Squall had taken a pounding today, and she was trying to cheer him up and indulge his meticulous nature. She didn't want him to worry needlessly.

Squall's head nodded weakly at Selphie as she started to warm up the airship. It had been a long, tough, and hot day. He was dirty and beaten up, but it was worth it to stay in top shape and to ensure that Rinoa attempted to do the same. Staying in shape was a serious business. At least he thought so. He thought everything was serious business. It was work, and it wasn't like it was meant to be fun, although Selphie and Rinoa thought differently.

Selphie smiled at Rinoa and Squall. They were so cute together, even when they had been bickering. They were a couple of adorable grumps!

While readying the Ragnarok for take-off, Selphie reflected on her day. It had been lovely and entertaining! She was sure they had as much fun as she had. The heat, the sunshine, the opportunity to stretch out and use her muscles. It was great! And to top it all off, she got to chat with Rinoa while hitting and blowing up monsters. Friends and non-stop excitement! She could do it all! Selphie was an excellent multi-tasker!

"This was FUN, we should do it EVERY week!" Selphie said while beaming a smile back at Squall and Rinoa who were now safely strapped into their seats. She then turned her attention forwards. Time to fly!

"Every week? Yea, it's a date!" Rinoa responded with enthusiasm.

Squall sighed as the Ragnarok lifted from the ground and blasted off.

The End

Author's Note: When I play FF8, I usually have Squall, Rinoa, and Selphie in the party. I refer to this grouping as Squall's Girl Squad. I always have lots of great stuff junctioned to Squall and he's basically an unstoppable powerhouse. Selphie and Rinoa do well, but they aren't nearly as destructive as him. In my mind, he was the workhorse and they were standing by and chatting and teasing him. I didn't deliberately imagine those things, they just were somewhere in the back of my head. So here's a really exaggerated and silly one-shot based on that idea.


End file.
